"I'm going to leave this room and I'm going to bring in a suggestion box and I want your suggestions to be in that suggestion box because I sure don't know," Newton said. "I really don't. I wish I could tell you. But the only thing I control, sweetheart, is myself. Offensively, I am the leader of this bunch and we haven't been getting the job done."

The answer did play well with the media.

But Moon - who has mentored Newton - hinted at a racial undertone to the criticism the former Heisman Trophy winner is taking.

"I don't understand it," Moon told Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday. "I heard somebody compare him to Vince Young. It's the same old crap - it's always a comparison of one black to another black. I get tired of it. I get tired of defending it.

"If you want to compare him to someone because of his demeanor, compare him to (Chicago quarterback) Jay Cutler. There are a lot of guys who whine and moan. Cam's not biting anybody's head off or pushing his linemen. He's just disgruntled, and not handling losing well, because, think about it, he basically didn't lose in college.

"I don't think Cam's as bad as Cutler, because Cutler looks like he doesn't give a damn sometimes, or he's yelling and cussing at someone. Cam, he just looks down when they're losing."

Asked about Moon's comments, Newton told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, "I haven't heard anything he said. But obviously Warren is a person I go to for guidance and leadership on the field and off the field. When it comes to (racism) I don't think there is any at all."